


Pick A Star On The Dark Horizon

by Silver_Platinum



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: #voltronwhumpweek2017, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sad Ending, Shiro is not a clone in here, Some Spoilers, Songfic, This is basically a getting together Klance story, With a very tragic ending, mostly Lance POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-28
Updated: 2017-08-28
Packaged: 2018-12-17 14:47:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11853777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silver_Platinum/pseuds/Silver_Platinum
Summary: Pick a star on the dark horizonAnd follow the lightYou'll come back, when it's overNo need to say goodbyeKeith, my sworn rival, my friend, my crush, my lover, my husband, my agony... my star.I love you.





	Pick A Star On The Dark Horizon

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry, I'm posting this super late!  
> Day 8: Free day.
> 
> Song: The call by Regina Spektor.
> 
> (I cried while writing this).

_**It started out as a feeling...** _

 

Lance knew Keith since the Garrison, always observing him from his sit, always observing that stupid haircut and his perfect grades, but always being cold... always being apart. In a time, Lance felt shame for him, he sensed that... he felt lonely, lost maybe, who knows. Keith was still his rival, always being the best, he would never admit it was actually his pure jealousy towards a guy that probably already had a lot of problems on his own, maybe... just maybe... someday, he'll meet him properly and finally he'll understand why, why was he like that?. Just one of the thousand of question without and answer that Lance had.

 

_**Which then grew into a hope...** _

 

Keith talked to him, after months of being in the same class, he finally talked to him. Lance didn't knew if he felt joy or even more jealously, it was just like three sentences they shared.

"Hey" Said Keith, his beautiful violet eyes looking through Lance's blue ones.

"H-hi" Lance answered, surprised, nervous about Keith talking to him.

"Congratulations on having the highest score" Keith congratulated him.

For Lance, that felt like a poem, the guy he "hated" was actually the guy he admired. Oh Keith Kogane... will ever melt that ice layer outside your heart?.

 

**_Which then turned into a quiet thought..._ **

 

One day, Keith disappeared, a disciplinary issue made him get expelled from the Garrison. Lance was a cargo pilot before that, but as soon as Keith left he became a fighter pilot. It was what he always wanted but not that way...

"The place is all yours McClain" Said Iverson with that scary tone, which by the way, Lance hated the guy, he was like a bully but 10 times worse.

"W-what?, what do you mean?".

"The best pilot of your class got expelled, you're next on the list".

Lance felt his heart sink, Keith was gone, he was actually gone. Lance should be happy for getting what he wanted, but no, he wasn't, he was worried about Keith, worried that... he'll never see him again.

 

  ** _Which then turned into a quiet word..._**

 

Hunk, Pidge and Lance where on the Garrison roof, Pidge insisting on a word "Voltron". Lance wasn't quite a believer of this kind of things, but he was there. A ship had crashed in the earth, one of the members of the Kerberos mission, Shiro, was there, They needed to free him.

"What we need is a distraction..." Said Lance, being followed by a explosión that startled all of the group.

Pidge grabbed the binoculars "Those explosions were a distraction... from him!" She pointed.

Lance took the binoculars of her hands and watched for himself: black hair, red jacket, pale skin... "Oh I would recognize that mullet anywhere!" Of course he did, he actually felt a little happy, but also, a little jealous again, Keith, always ahead of him, always winning.

 

"No, no, no!" Lance said annoyed, grabbing Shiro's arms and looking at Keith full of jealousy, he wasn't going to be covered by his shadow once again "I'm saving Shiro!".

Keith looked confused "Who are you?".

Lance was actually pretty hurt by that, he really didn't remember him, he bottled up that feeling and tried to be as chill as possible "Uh, the name's Lance" He said, realizing that this didn't turn on the bulb on Keith's head "We were in the same class at the Garrison".

"Really?, are you an engineer?" Keith questioned, still not remembering Lance at all.

This felt like an arrow to the heart, it hurt, a lot "No, I'm a pilot!" He snapped "We were like rivals, you know, Lance and Keith, neck and neck".

"Oh, wait, I remember you, you're a cargo pilot".

That was it, Lance broke from the nside, this was it, he officially hated Keith again, probably even more than before "Well, not anymore. I'm a fighter class now, thanks to you washing out".

Now Keith looked angry "Well, congratulations".

 

**_And then that voice grew louder and louder, till it was a battle cry..._ **

 

They found the lions, a castle, a princess, everything was changing, including Lance relationship with Keith. 

They became rivals, always doing stupid harsh things for seeing who was better. They fought and discussed all the time, the team already saw it like something normal, until a sudden change of events, made Lance open his eyes again and reconsider his opinion on his rival...

Keith grabbed Lance hand, Lance smiled weakly "We did it, we're a good team".

Keith returned that soft smile.

Lance didn't remembered a lot of what happened after, he was drifting between consciousness and unconsciousness, but he felt someone carrying him, he was almost certain it was Keith.

When he got out of the pod, everyone was happy to see him, including Keith. 

"We had a bonding moment!" Keith exclaimed frustrated "I cradled you in my arms!".

 _'When did that happened?'_ Lance tried to remember, but nothing came, he barely just remembered being carried _'Maybe that was Keith...'_ Lance stated to remember but he was still mad because Keith didn't remembered him, so he decided to play the card of "Nope, I don't remember, never happened".

He was pretty sure Keith hated him after that, even more than before.

The same day his lion was stolen from him, a cute alien named Nyma and another guy named Rolo wanted to give it to Zarkon. Keith retrieved his lion in the coolest way possible, flying through a fricking asteroid belt, that's why he was the best pilot.

"Hey Lance!" Keith said through the comms "I retrieved your lion".

"Thanks Keith!" Lance actually meant a lot that words, he really did "Now can you come and unchain me?".

 

**_I'll come back, when you call me..._ **

 

Lance was starting to like Keith, not in a romantic way  **obviously** , in a friendly way. Keith was actually a pretty chill guy, he could be hotheaded, impulsive and a loner sometimes, but others, he laughed and even somethings joked with the team. Lance felt the thing he did when Keith congratulated him on the Garrison, his feeling for him returned, no more hatred.

He was going to befriend Keith, he really wanted to...

 

**_No need to say goodbye..._ **

 

When he saw Keith's lion flying out of the castle into the wormhole followed by Shiro's, he felt scared and worried.

"Keith!, Shiro!" He saw his friends go. A couple of seconds later, he was in the same situation.

He ended up with Hunk under the sea on an unknown planet, he met a mermaid, Plaxum. He liked her a lot, but not even that could take off the idea that his other friends might be in danger or hurt, he wanted, no... he needed to reunite with them.

When they got back to the castle a couple of hours later, he was the happiest person alive when he saw that everyone was okay, mostly, Shiro was on a healing-pod, but Coran assured he was going to be perfectly fine in a couple of Vargas.

"I gotta admit, I was scared for a second that I might never saw you again guys" Lance admitted.

They were waiting for Shiro to come out from the pod.

Keith laughed, a weird action coming from him "So, you missed me?".

In that moment, Lance didn't knew if what he felt was rage or embarrassment, he did missed Keith, he was extremely worried of him "No, because I knew that your stupid mullet will survive along you".

Keith rolled his eyes, not saying anything else. Maybe Lance was too harsh this time.

A few days later, they met Ulaz, the Galra that helped Shiro scape from the clutches of the Galra. Ulaz told them about the Blade of Marmora, a rebel group of Galras that were against Zarkon.

Keith seemed interested by his knife, typical Keith.

No one trusted him except for Shiro at the beginning. He died protecting them from one of Haggar robobeasts.

The next few days, Keith was acting more strange than ever, more distant, always with a tense expression on his face, always thinking and drifting out on his own thoughts. Shiro noticed that and tried talking to him, Keith excused himself saying he was just tired. Lance knew that was a lie, but he didn't have a clue of how to approach Keith properly on the subject.

 

**_Just because everything's changing, doesn't mean it's never been this way before..._ **

 

Keith and Shiro went to the Blade of Marmora, they managed to ally with them, much to Allura's discomfort. But that wasn't all the news...

"Actually... Keith has something important to announce" Shiro said.

Everyone gathered around Keith, all curious about the thing. By Keith's facial expression, Lance knew it wasn't something good...

"I'm part Galra" Keith said, pain in his voice, sadness "This knife, belonged to my mother and she...".

"Was a Galra" Allura finished for him, poison in her voice tone.

Everyone seem shocked, a little scared. Hunk actually back up a few steps and Pidge pushed her glasses up her nose over and over again as a nervous sign, even Shiro seemed a bit distant.

Lance knew he had to intervene "So what?" He said, arms crossed "You're still annoying Keith, nothing has actually changed".

Keith's eyes widen, he was surprised by Lance word. A few second later everyone seemed more comfortable, except Allura.

"Same or not same, he's still Galra".

"Allura..." Shiro started with a disappointing look.

"I'll never trust a Galra" She finally said and leaved the room extremely mad.

Coran scratched the back of his head "I'll talk to her".

 

**_All you can do is know who your friends are, as you head off to the war..._ **

 

Lance was taking a night walk through the castle, he liked the quiet and peace that the night offered. He walked around "The stars room", he called it like that because it was perfect for observing the beautiful plasma spheres, after all, space was filled with them.

He heard a very low sob coming from the other side of the door. He placed his ear to the door to hear better. 'Is that Keith?'. Lance opened the door and saw Keith sitting against a wall, his knees touching his chin and his face down.

He rised slowly his head and wiped away the tears remaining in his face "L-Lance?" He asked, almost like a whisper.

Lance got closer to Keith and kneel down in front of him "Hey, you okay?" He brushed Keith bangs out of his face.

Keith moved Lance hand away "Shouldn't you be sleeping?".

Lance noticed that Keith was avoiding the question, he wasn't going to pressure it if he didn't wanted to talk about it "Wasn't sleepy".

Keith's eyes were red from crying, his eyelids slightly down and sadness drawn in all his face "You should go to sleep".

"You too!, humans need to sleep!" Lance realized what he said very late "Shit, I'm sorry, I shouldn't, I-I'm sorry Keith. I'm stupid, forget what I said".

Another tear came out of his violet eye.

"But, are you okay?, physically I mean" Lance asked changing the subject "Shiro said you fought several hours, aren't you at least tired?".

Keith shook his head "I have too many thoughts in my mind right now, sleeping isn't probably coming soon" He answered and touched his shoulder "I just feel a little sore".

Lance noticed the action "You hurt your shoulder?".

Keith nodded "Shiro helped me bandage it up".

"Heh, now you'll be brother of scars" Lance pointed trying to light the mood.

Keith rolled his eyes and massaged his temples "Go to sleep Lance".

"Nope, not until you go to sleep" Lance crawled beside Keith and sat against the wall.

Keith sighed, not saying anything else. He observed the space, the dark nothingness of the vast universe, how the stars shined brightly in different tones, illuminating the scene. Lance observed Keith instead, how the blue light of the castle reflected against his pale skin and Raven hair, his perfect features and his fluffy hair, he always wanted to touch it for some reason.

"But seriously Keith, are you really okay?. The Galra news was very surprising for all of us, I can't imagine what it must have been on...".

"Just leave it alone Lance!" Keith shouted, clenching his fists.

"Keith..." Lance tried to reach for the red paladin shoulder.

Keith flinched "Just shut up for once in your fucking life and leave me alone!".

Lance sighed and watched his friend, yes, his friend; suffer, feeling lost, rejected and scared, all that feeling were only turning him into a big time bomb waiting to explode.

"I said leave me alone Lance!" Keith said again, even more angry.

Lance shook his head "No, I'm not leaving you like this".

Keith screamed of anger and made a fist with his hand, tears were coming out of his eyes again "Get out, get the hell out NOW!" He screamed, shaking from anger or fear, Lance wasn't sure.

"I saw I wasn't leaving you!".

"GET OUT!" Keith threw his fist in direction to Lance face, crying and ready to punch him. Lance stopped the punch, he wrapped his fingers around his wrist just a couple of centimeters away from his face.

Keith started sniffing hard, trying to move his hand and murmuring "Just leave me alone..." He openly started crying and sobbing in front of the blue paladin.

Lance did not think twice and circled him with his long arms in a strong warm embrace. Keith tried to push away but he gave up and started melting in Lance arms, his face against his chest, trying to hide his red swollen eyes. Lance placed his head on top of Keith's and caress his hair, it was soft and a bit tangled, but Lance love it for some reason.

Keith's sobbing came to an end several minutes later, but he was still with his face on Lance chest.

Lance patted his head softly "Feeling better?".

The red boy nodded and slowly returned to his sitting place beside Lance "Y-yeah..." He let his head slump against the wall and closed his eyes "I'm sorry if I... got all wet your jacket" He mumbled.

"Nah, it's okay, I'll just wash it later".

Keith smiled a little bit and opened his eyes, looking once again to the stars, his smile turning into pure sadness a couple of seconds later.

"Lance?".

"Yeah?" Lance was observing the starts too.

"Do you- do you think I'm the enemy?" He asked.

"Never, you're to stupid to be a bad guy" Even that sound incredibly mean on Lance head, 'Well done McClain'.

Keith actually laughed a bit with that, a weak soft smile "There's stupid bad guy too".

"Yeah, but the cool ones are the smart ones obviously!".

Keith shook his head "If you say so".

The room stayed quiet for a while, Lance really wanted to comfort Keith but he wasn't sure how to do it properly without getting almost punched in the face, he decided that for a hot-headed like Keith, the best option was to be direct. 

"Your race doesn't define you Keith" Lance started looking at Keith's perfect profile "Even if you were Chinese, human, Altean or... Galra. Doesn't change who you are".

Keith finally turned to face him.

Lance reached for his shoulder, this time without Keith flinching away.

"You are Keith Kogane, the guy who flies through asteroid belts and is willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of the universe and the ones you care about" He squished his shoulder "That's the Keith we all love and admire, not the Keith that cries in the night thinking he's the enemy. So yeah, maybe you are Galra, but that doesn't and will never change my image of you".

"But Allura and everyone...".

"Shiro is like your brother, he'll always protect you; Pidge and Hunk think it's actually pretty cool that you're part Galra and Allura... Allura is just acting selfish, she's clinging to the past and that's not good for anyone, specially if now we're allying with The Blade of Marmora".

"I don't blame her, Galras destroy her entire planet" Keith mumbled.

"It's been ten thousand years, I don't want to sound rude but... it's time for her to stop mourning about the past and focus on saving the future for avoiding something like that to happen once again".

Keith sighed "I guess you're right..." He turned around.

Lance wasn't going to let that happen, he grabbed Keith's chin and forced him to look him to the eye "Repeat with me: I'm still Keith, no matter my race".

"Lance..." He tried to turn around but Lance didn't let him.

"Say it".

"I-I'm Keith..." He gave a deep breath "No matter my race...".

"Perfect" Lance smiled "Now we should go to sleep".

Keith nodded in agreement and got to his feet, offering a hand to Lance. Lance accepted the help and took off his jacket "It's pretty wet man".

"I said I was sorry".

"And I said it didn't matter" He walked toward the door, Keith following him a couple of steps behind, before he opened the door, Keith called his name.

"Lance, wait" He walked to Lace and without saying a word, he hugged him, a strong embrace. "Thank you" He whispered to his ear.

Lance blushed slightly and nodded "Anytime".

 

**_Pick a star on the dark horizon, and follow the light..._ **

 

Lance started to feel a little useless to the team, very useless actually, just like a seventh wheel that was there because they needed five people for piloting the lions and form Voltron, but in reality, he was just the extra, no special traits, just an extra...

The fight against Zarkon was coming, their plan was made, it wasn't the best but they could only hope it would work. Everyone had a mission: Keith and Hunk were going to the Weblum to find some crystals for the teludav; while Pidge, Shiro and him headed to search for Slav, a genius that could help them hide the castle in a way that Lance couldn't actually fully understand.

During that time, Lance felt extremely useless, he freed the wrong alien and got all the team in trouble. But thanks to Shiro calling him sharpshooter, he didn't felt so mad with himself, besides, they accomplished the mission.

Keith and Hunk also fulfilled their task. The yellow and red paladin had became closer, Lance didn't knew why, but he felt happy, very, very happy.

Now they were preparing for the mission, today they were going to fight Zarkon and once for all, finish this eternal war full of suffering.

Lance observed Keith even more lately, for some reason, it made him feel safe. Maybe Keith was starting to become a light for him, who knows?, the guy is a hot-headed still, he just hope that someday he'll actually befriend him properly, no drama in the middle of the night, just laughs and happiness, yeah... someday...

 

**_You'll come back, when it's over. No need to say goodbye..._ **

 

Shiro was gone, he simply banished.

After they defeated Zarkon, the black lion was inactive. Keith and Pidge carried it to its hangar and then everyone run to the mechanic black lion. When they saw in the cockpit, Shiro was gone, simply gone...

The next days were hard, Keith was nowhere to be seen, Allura and Coran were busy as hell with Zarkon just being defeated so suddenly, in general all the team was down, the sudden and rare loss of Shiro affected everyone, specially Keith.

Lance knocked on his door "Hey buddy, you okay?".

No one answered. This was the third time in the day that Lance tried to make some kind of contact with the red paladin, this loss was being incredibly hard for him, especially after what Allura said the other day.

"I'm afraid that Shiro could be..." She cleared her throat, watery eyes "Dead...".

"Keep thinking that, I know he's not dead" Keith interrumpted "I don't give a shit what you all want to believe or think, I'm going to find him and I don't care the price" With that, he left.

Or how to forget the time he explode on the meeting with some other alien leaders to make some more allies...

"Tell them to go and fight for themselves!" He stood up, everyone shocked at the sudden reaction "Voltron is gone!" He left once again.

The worst part of this... the change of lions.

"It's time to find a new pilot for the black lion" Allura announced.

Lance actually wanted that position, it would be the perfect opportunity to prove himself to team and himself, no more goofball, he was going to earn the trust of the lion and guide the team, he needed this, he wanted this. 

He stayed inside the cockpit for almost half an hour, he was really trying but the lion wasn't reacting, maybe he was meant to be the extra forever. He kept trying with all of his being.

But at the end... not everything turns the way we wanted to...

"Congratulations Keith" Allura congratulated him 

"Congratulations Keith" Pidge said too.

"Ditto" Hunk added.

And Lance, he was angry, Keith again was ahead of him, this made his heart break in thousand if pieces, the only thing he wanted was his own place on the team, be special...

"I do not accept this" Keith said.

Everyone gasped, even Lance.

"The black lion choose you!" Allura pointed.

"I can't be the leader!" Keith exclaimed "You were right, I am the loner!".

Even if his jealousy was up to the heavens, Lance comforted Keith.

Lance placed his hand on Keith's shoulder, the red paladin gasped "The black lion choose you, I respect it's choice and you should too" Lance pointed.

It wasn't the best comfort he could offer, but it seemed to help at least a bit.

 

A Galra fleet was attacking the castle. Everyone got to their lions, except for Lance...

"Come on blue!. It's me, Lancey-Lance!" He said, dropping to his knees in front of his shielded lion "Maybe I'm not even meant to be a paladin anymore" He mumbled. He really felt that way, first the black lion and now the blue one, something was wrong and obviously it was him, he wasn't good enough for the team anymore.

Allura came to his aid. The red lion started calling him.

"The red lion is calling you" Allura pointed.

The princess wanted to pilot that lion, Lance couldn't help to feel guilty "Maybe is calling you?".

"As much as I wished that was true, I'm afraid it's calling you".

"But why me?".

"The red paladin had always been the right hand of the black paladin, when you showed your maturity by accepting Keith as the new leader, you gained the lion respect" She said, her hand on his shoulder.

Lance looked at the blue lion once again, he smiled, he was going to miss her a lot.

"Go" Allura ordered.

Lance ran to the red lion hangar, it wasn't as big as blue and everything was in red lights. He placed his hand on the nose of the lion and the lion responded.

"Ok girl, let's do this" Now he was the red Paladin.

 

He made it to the battle just in time, they were really struggling. Neither him or Keith were used to pilot their new lions, it was hard, Keith was complaining over and over again about the black lion speed, while Lance was just trying to slow down a bit the red one.

"What do we do!?".

"We need to form Voltron but we're short on lions" Keith pointed.

And then, the blue lion appeared.

"Allura!?" Everyone one asked.

The lion had chosen her, now they were complete once again. The fleet leave as soon as the blue lion appeared.

They went back to the castle. Lance was saying goodbye to Blue, he wandered if Keith was doing the same with red.

"Sometimes what we want isn't necessarily what we get" He said, looking at his robotic friend "I'm gonna miss you buddy".

Allura came wearing a bright pink paladin armor.

"Pink, huh?. Not what I was expecting but I like it!".

"Yes, on Altea we wear this color to honour the fallen warriors" She said, holding her helmet.

This only made Lance even more depressed that he already was, the fallen warriors... he just hoped that no one else falls.

 

**_You'll come back, when it's over. No need to say goodbye..._ **

 

They found Shiro a couple of weeks later. The team got back it's usual brightness, especially Keith. Shiro really meant a lot to all of them.

Lance started overthinking things, if Shiro was back that means that he'll go back to the black lion, Keith to red and... Allura will stay on blue, she deserved more the position than him, in just a couple of weeks, she managed to master the blue lion that easily. That's when Lance decided to pay a visit to the one and only, Keith.

Lance told him about how he made the math, 6 paladins, 5 lions. He came with the hope to receive a good advice from Keith, an answer. He didn't exactly got what he wanted...

"Ok, thanks" He was about to leave when Keith called his name.

"And Lance..." Keith was smiling at him, a sincere soft kind of reassuring smile that made Lance heart melt "Leave the math to Pidge".

Lance couldn't help but to smile too, the door shut behind him but he stayed outside, smiling and blushing slightly. Keith wasn't the best comforter or the best with words, but man... he did knew how to make Lance feel in heaven. That stupid hair, that stupid smile and that stupid eyes... no... that beautiful hair, that beautiful smile and that precious violet eyes. 

Lance... had an official crush on Keith.

 

He stayed awake thinking all that moments: the famous bonding moment, how Keith was holding his hand in the dim purple light; the time he got back his lion and actuallly came to unchain him like and hour later; when he comforted Keith in the middle of the night; the cute smiles they sometimes gave to each other and how to forget, the first time they talked in the Garrison, the time Keith congratulated him. With that memory, he fell asleep.

The next few days were actually harsh, with Shiro back, Keith and him been stumbling akwardly against each other trying to give orders and leading the team.

And Lance, he was having a rough time. This last nights he's been sneaking to the lion hangars, crying against Blue's shield and sometime even Red's, he felt useless, he just wanted a purpose. There was this particular night when everything changed, absolutely everything...

"Hello?, is someone there?" A voice asked, Keith's voice.

Lance tried to hide his sobbing by covering his mouth but it was useless, he couldn't resist it and another sob along with a sniff came out of him.

Keith approached him rapidly, his eyes full of worry "Lance!, are you okay!?" He kneeled in front of him.

Lance didn't wanted to face Keith, not with red swallowed eyes from crying for almost an hour, not this weak.

"I-it's nothing, just forget it".

"Lance..." Keith placed his hand of the current red paladin, even more worry on his eyes than before "You can talk to me".

He didn't said anything, he just watched and felt Keith's hand on his shoulder. He took a big deep breath, Lance knew it was time for letting this go and maybe this was his chance, this was his time to be the comforted one instead of the comforting one, just for this time.

"I-I feel useless Keith..." He said in a very low voice, almost imperceptible.

"What do you mean?".

He swallowed nervously "I mean that I feel out of place. All of you have this special things that makes you all important, but me... I'm just the goofball, the seventh wheel".

Keith smiled, letting a small laugh out "Are you being serious right now?".

Lance didn't knew if he had to answer, he was very confused by 1, seeing Keith laugh and 2, what was that question supposed to mean?.

"You're being ridiculos Lance, you are not the seventh wheel" Keith sighed "In fact, I think you're much more intelligent and centered than me".

The tall boy looked at the boy in front of him with wide eyes "Huh?".

Keith let himself slump to the floor in a sitting position "I don't think you see it, but you're amazing. All the sharpshooter things you said before... are actually true" He smiled once again to Lance, this time in a sweeter way "You are very skilled, smart, funny, caring. God... you're even cute".

Tears started forming on the other paladin eyes "Keith..." He felt his heart warm, this words really meant a lot to him.

"So please, stop saying this stupid stuff" Keith begged "You are not a seventh wheel, less a goofball. You are Lance fucking McClain, the cool sharpshooter ninja and... I must say... I'm proud of you".

The last frase made Lance heart explode, his cheeks started to turn red and tears started falling from his eyes once again. "Thank you...".

Keith took Lance hands, pressing them slightly in a caring way and facing each other just inches apart "I'm just pointing the obvious". 

The two boys stayed in that position long enough, their eyes met in a comforting way, both being able to see through them, like if they tried hard enough, they might be able to read their thoughts. Lance glanced at Keith's lips, how close they were, how soft and perfect they seemed. Keith notice the action and did the same to Lance, also watching his mesmerizing lips and beautiful eyes. They got closer, face even closer than just a few inches. Both inclined their head slightly, closing their eyes slowly, feeling the warm breath of the other one on their face. They got closer and closer until... they kissed. Lips united, a long passionate kiss, Lance hand on Keith's nape, Keith's hands slowly getting to Lance waist.

After almost a minute, they separated. Both were red on the cheeks, their eyes slowly fluttering open, a smile on their faces illuminating the quiet night on the castle.

"Wow" Lance said, hands again on Keith's.

"Yeah..." Keith seemed nervous, playing anxiously with his fingers on Lance hands.

"I liked it" The blue boy admitted.

Keith blushed even more "R-really?".

Lance nodded "Yes, I did".

"I didn't knew you had this kind of feeling too".

"Since when...?" Lance asked.

Keith shook his head "I'm not sure... everything started going slowly since you comforted me that one night" He answered "How about you?".

"Since..." Lance thought about the answer, the truth was that he started realizing he liked Keith a couple of days ago, but when did all actually started... "The Garrison". He liked him since the Garrison, since the compliment, since everything, that was the truth, he like the truth.

Keith's eyes widen "Wow...".

"I know, I'm such a looser".

Keith shook his head "No, you are awesome" He took Lance hand "And to be sincere... I did remembered you when we saved Shiro".

"What!?".

"I remembered you, but when you started with the rival thing I tought I had confused you".

Lance squished his hand and started laughing "That changes some many things".

"But then you started talking about the Garrison and I recognize you" The red paladin admitted and looked at the other boy on the eyes "I like you Lance, a lot".

Lance started blushing without control "I-I like you too Keith".

Keith placed his head on Lance shoulder "Do you think we could be more than friends?".

Lance nodded and placed his head on top of Keith's "Yes".

And that night, their hearts finally found each other.

 

**_Now we're back at the beginning, it's just a feeling that no one knows yet..._ **

 

A week later, Keith and Lance finally decided that it was time to tell the team about them. 

The breakfast was just as any other: quiet, calm, relaxing, everyone eating their space food and making random comments.

Lance cleared his throat "Keith and I are dating!" He announced, his hands sweating from the nerves.

Keith eyes wide open "Lance!" He exclaimed, by the sudden comment. 

Pidge dropped her spoon back on the goo and turned her head to Hunk in a fast movement "You owe me 5 bucks".

Hunk looked at his friends with surprise and then at Pidge "I don't think dollars are worthy on space".

Shiro was still processing the sudden news alongside Allura and Coran.

"So... yeah" Keith was just a nervous as Lance, the blue and red paladins grabbed hands underneath the table.

Shiro simply smiled at them "I'm happy for you boys" He said "I've always knew you'd made a great couple".

"Yep, Pidge and me also thought that" Hunk pointed and Pidge nodded at the statement.

Allura clapped her hands in excitement "I knew it!".

Coran played with his mustache "Indeed princess you were right, this two made a perfect match since the beginning".

"Huh?" Lance asked.

"When you both entered the castle, just as I knew your lions, I also knew there was something else between you two, kind of a special bond" Allura explained.

"We always though that behind that rivalry of yours, there was love deep inside waiting to come out".

The two boys blushed and smiled at each other.

"Thanks for the support guys".

 

_ Three months later _

 

Moths passed, there was no sign of Lotor. The team took that time as a little vacation, just small missions every now and then, also they got back to their original state: Keith in red, Lance in blue, Shiro on black and Allura, sadly, got back to the castle.

"Ok babe, what do you want to do?" Lance asked, throwing himself to the bed beside Keith.

"Today is our anniversary, we should do something special".

"Three months already, huh?" Lance smiled at the thought "I feel like we been together for years".

"Is that bad?" Keith asked his boyfriend.

The blue boy laughed and gave a kiss on the cheek to the red one.

"Of course not!".

Keith smiled and looked at the ceiling of their room "You wanna go to the stars room?".

Lance nodded "Yeah, let's...".

 **"Paladins!, to the bay now!"** Coran shouted through the comms.

"Will go after we see what's happening" Lance walked taking Keith's hand.

"You think something bad happened?" He asked.

"Maybe there's some news of Lotor" Keith answered, his voice tone was sad as his expression.

"You okay?" Lance asked before entering the room.

"Yeah, its... it's nothing".

That didn't gave Lance the confidence that his boyfriend was okay, but right now they had other matters in hands so he just left the subject alone. They entered the bay, everybody was there already. Distress looks in all of their faces.

"Lotor is back" Allura announced "I'm afraid he's very much more stronger than last time".

The couple exchanged looks, this were bad new, very bad news.

"How much time do we have left?" Shiro asked.

Coran typed on the computer rapidly "Exactly a week".

Shiro sighed and shook his head "That's not enough".

"But we been training our ass off this whole time, I think we're good on that aspect" Lance pointed.

"I agree with Lance, this time has not been in vain, we always knew Lotor was going to come back eventually" Pidge added.

"Shiro" Keith went to his side instantly, placing his hand on his friend, practically, brother shoulder "Everything will come out right. We are ready".

Shiro nodded "I guess you're all right".

"We still need a plan, I'm afraid Voltron and the castle defenders might not be enough" Allura said, worry on her voice.

"We been scanning the signals coming from Lotor's ships, one of them contains a high level of quintessence in it" Coran pointed at the screen, an image of a big Galra ship on it "We believe that in this ship he keeps a great part of the quintessence he posses".

"That quintessence must be what powers up his Dark Voltron" Allura pointed.

"So we gotta destroy that thing, easy peasy" Hunk said.

"No, it's not that 'easy peasy'. The ship has a very strong armor, even stronger that Voltron's" Coran pointed.

"How about the inside?, maybe we can destroy it from there" Keith suggested.

"That's actually a good strategy..." Coran started typing again.

"Yeah!. If we destroy the ship from the inside, all the quintessence will blow up with it!" Hunk exclaimed "The robot will loose its energy source and the castle could absorbe the rest that's left, right?".

Allura nodded "Yes, the quintessence is compatible with the castle as an energy source".

Another image appeared on the screen, Coran pointed it "This is Kraztal, a planet well known by its armament fabrication".

"They don't work for the Galra?" Shiro asked.

"No, it's a secret location, only rebels have it" Coran answered "Where did you thought they got all that ships and weapons from?".

"Ill set course there" Allura announced.

"Ok everyone, tomorrow at first hour will start training" Shiro commanded "Go back to sleep".

The team obeyed.

 

Lance walked quietly with Keith to their room. His boyfriend seemed sad, maybe even worried, but why?. They reached their room, the door slid open and Lance got inside, but Keith didn't, he was standing at the door frame, looking at the ground with the same expression from before.

"Babe?, are you okay?" Lance asked, worried about the red paladin.

Keith didn't answer, he kneel in one knee. Lance immediately got to his knees too, worried about his boyfriend.

"Keith!" He was about to reach his shoulder when suddenly Keith took his hand softly "Keith?".

Keith looked at Lance in the eyes "Lance, there's something I need to ask you".

"Sure babe, anything you want" He was worried sick, what was this mullet head cutie trying to do?.

"Remember that night we we're talking about all the things we wanted to do when we got back to earth?".

He nodded in response.

"Remember how we joked about getting married?".

Lance was confused at the beginning, but he was starting to understand now... "Keith..." Tears starting forming in his eyes.

Keith reached the pocket of his red jacket and took out a ring. It was a shining silver loop with little engravings on it in the form of waves and then, there was the crystal, it was a bright blue gem that changed between tones of blue and green, making the illusion of waves inside of it.

"I know this isn't the proper way, but... I couldn't wait and now that Lotor is coming soon, I want to do this now..." Keith brought the ring in front of him, directing to Lance face, his violet eyes on Lance blue ones.

"Lance McClain... will you marry me?".

Tears started rolling out of Lance eyes, he wasn't sure if they were happy tears or joy tears or even nervous tears, but what he did knew was his answer.

"Yes!, yes!, yes!" He got to the floor and kissed Keith lips passionately.

While they were kissing, Keith placed the ring on Lance finger. 

They were oficially engaged.

Lance looked at the ring, it was truly mesmerizing, it's colors and shape. Everything was perfect.

"I want us to marry before the fight" Keith said.

"Are you sure?" Lance asked.

His fiancé nodded "Positive" He brushed softly his fingers against Lance cheek "When we get back to earth, will have a proper ceremony if you want".

Lance shook his head "It's not necessary, this place is perfect. A small space wedding with our new family".

Keith smiled at the word family, Lance was right, this was their family now.

 

  ** _But just because they can't feel it too, doesn't mean that you have to forget..._**

 

In the few days they had left, they got the explosives and planned a strategy.

"Lance and Keith will infiltrate in the Galra ship, they'll install the explosives while we distract Lotor and the generals. When we explode the thing, will form Voltron and give our best fight against Lotor" Shiro commanded.

"Got it!" Everyone shouted.

"But for now, let's go to sleep. Tomorrow will have a very special celebration..." Shiro winked at the blue and red paladins.

Both laughed and hold their hands happily.

"Yep, our first space wedding" Pidge added and yawned "I'll go do some things on my computer, see you tomorrow happy couple" She joked and left to her quarters.

"Same here, sleep well for tomorrow" Hunk left too.

"Keith, can I have a word with you?" Shiro asked.

Keith nodded and followed Shiro outside the bay. Lance waited till the doors were closed and approached the Alteans.

"You got it?" He asked.

Coran took out a little red box "Yes we do".

Lance took the box and opened it, revealing a very similar ring to his, the only difference was that this one had a golden loop and a bright red gem that gave the illusion of fire inside of it.

"Thank you so much!".

Allura shook her head "No need to thank us".

 

_ The wedding day _

 

The day had finally come, it was Friday afternoon on earth time. The ceremony was going to be held at the stars room, Lance and Keith favorite room. Allura was going to marry them, she assured that her experience on previous Altean weddings will help, fortunately, they were kind of similar to earth ones. Hunk and Shiro were the best men's, Shiro being Keith's and Hunk being Lance's. Pidge was going to be the flower girl and also she'll record the entire wedding with the help of Rover 2.0. Coran was going to bring Lance to the altar.

Everything was perfect, the room was decorated with beautiful white flowers and balmera crystals of different colors for illuminating the place alongside the stars. There was a white carpet that lead to the flower arch on the altar. 

"Everybody get to your positions!" Coran ordered.

Lance was hearing everything from behind the door, his hands shaking. This was it, a long road lead them to this... their wedding.

Coran opened the door slightly and came out "How you feeling my boy?".

"Nervous as hell".

"Don't worry, Keith is also very nervous" He pointed and placed his arm for Lance to grabbed it "Everything will be fine".

Lance remembered that frase _"everything will be fine"_ , Coran's voice tone made him feel secure and ready, just like a father figure. He intertwined his arm with Coran's and nodded "Let's do this".

Coran knocked the door three times and a few second later the music started playing, the typical wedding theme filling his ears and leaving a smile in all his face.

The doors opened slowly, revealing the beautiful room. A petal trail was left by Pidge in the whole carpet, she was already recording everything. Hunk was waiting alongside Shiro on the altar. Allura also was ready, and Keith... he was standing there with a smile on his face, his hair on a tiny ponytail and a elegant black suit with a red tie. Everyone has the same suit except that with the tie matching the color of their lions and of course, Pidge and Allura were wearing long dresses.

"You ready?" Coran whispered to his ear.

Lance nodded and they started walking down the aisle. With every step they gave, Lance thought of everything that will happen from now on, his marriage, their going to defeat Lotor and go back to earth, make their lifes and continue living in peace, of course, Keith by his side.

When they got to the altar, Coran let go of Lance giving him fatherly hug and a comforting smile. Lance got beside Keith and smiled with his white theet revealed. Keith grabbed his hand.

Allura cleared her throat "We're gather here today, to celebrate the union of two special souls".

The couple faced each other, holding both hands softly.

She placed her hands on top of theirs "The universe has decided to link together the hearts of Lance McClain, the blue paladin of Voltron and Keith Kogane, the red paladin of Voltron". "Let's get the rings please".

Shiro and Hunk gave them the rings of their couple.

"Keith" Allura started "Your bows please".

Keith nodded "Lance, my stupid flirty future husband" He started, everyone laughed including Lance himself "I couldn't manage to write this words, there's too many I have to say but to little time to do it in just a night" His eyes started watering "This two years that we have been on space, I've managed to know you, know the person that was really inside, everyday falling a little bit more in love with you. Our fights, discussion and stupid constant competition wasn't something that I loved neither that I hated, but I did felt something, I felt that slowly we were getting closer and closer with each mean comment and even our occasional compliments".

A tear came out of Lance eye. Hunk was already crying alongside Coran.

"And now I know, I know that we were meant to be, all the bickering, all that comforting nights we had, both crying in stars room, letting our problems flow in a waterfall of tears coming from our eyes. All that lead us to this, you opened my eyes Lance McClain, you made me see that you are my family, everyone in this castle is my family. You and only you, made me realize all the mistakes I've been making since the very start and also you... the awesome, smart, beautiful sharpshooter..." He gave a big breath, tears now coming out of his eyes "Showed me how to love".

Everyone now was crying their eyes out, Pidge trying to hide it but failing miserably.

"And like I said, I can't express all my love right now and here" He grabbed Lance hands, ignoring the ring in his hand "But I want to show you, from now to forever, all my love to you" He gave him a soft kiss in the forehead "I love you Lance McClain".

Lance was crying, his hand shaking "I love you too Keith...".

Allura cleared her throat once again, trying to stop her crying "L-Lance, your bows please".

This time Lance nodded.

"Keith: my rival, my friend, my crush, my lover... and now, my future husband. I wasn't able to write down all the things I wanted to say either, but I'm going to do my best trying to tell you most of it" He started and wiped a tear off his eyes "I've always admired you, since the Garrison, I always wanted to be like you, cool, handsome, mysterious, smart and adventurous. Obviously I couldn't" He laughed a bit "I couldn't because you don't deserve to have someone being like you, you are unique Keith Kogane, your unique selfless personality was one of the many traits that made me fall for you harder every day since we crossed that wormhole the first time". "You opened my eyes and made me see what I was capable of, you help me overcome all my insecurities. I don't know if any of you believe in faith, but I certainly do. Who was going to be best to help me move on that the one and only Keith Kogane, the person I admired the most?".

Keith now was crying.

"I know that together, will find our star on the dark horizon and will follow our dreams... just you and me, Lance and Keith, neck and neck, partners for life". He hugged Keith who was crying in front of him "I love you, Keith Kogane".

Allura nodded wiping the tears off her cheeks "Now, lets begging the soul bonding ceremony". "Keith, do you accept Lance as your soul partner for the rest of you life, to love him and protect him, even in the after life?".

"Yes, I will protect him and love him... even in the after life" Keith said.

"Lance, do you accept Keith as your soul partner for the rest of your life, to love him and protect him, even in the after life?".

Lance nodded "Yes, i do and I will".

Allura nodded "Place your rings on your couple hand please".

Lance grabbed Keith's hand, sliding the flame gem ring slowly into Keith's finger and giving him a kiss on the hand.

Keith grabbed Lance hand and placed the sea gem ring too, brushing his fingers softly against his hand.

Allura extended her hands in top on the couple intertwined hand, blue and red magic started to flow from their chests, specifically their hearts, slowly surrounding the red and blue paladin hands.

"Now, for sealing the soul bonding ceremony. You might kiss" She commanded.

With the magic still surrounding their hands, they got closer, uniting their lips in a romantic kiss. The blue and red magic combined forming a bright purple that flowed inside of their rings like water.

Allura smiled "I'm happy to officially announce the union of the blue paladin, Lance McClain and the red paladin, Keith Kogane!" She exclaimed and placed her hand once again on their hands "May your love be as free as your souls".

Keith and Lance had their foreheads against each other, both smiling softly.

"I love you, Keith McClain Kogane" Lance mumbled.

"I love you too, Lance Kogane McClain" Keith mumbled too.

Everyone started chearing and clapping their hands.

"Que vivan los novios!" Hunk shouted in a very bad Spanish.

Shiro was still crying but clapping with all his soul alongside Pidge and Coran.

Keith and Lance we're still holding hands, both lost in the eyes of each other. A new chapter has been started and they couldn't wait to start writing it, even thought this could be their last time together...

 

A big banquette was held next, Hunk and Coran spent all the night preparing it. The dinner was awesome, it reminded Lance a lot to his family back on earth: the big dinner, everyone telling stories and laughing nonstop. Keith was also having a great time, he could tell by the expression on his face.

After dinner, Pidge played some music for the first dance of the couple, everyone danced a little for a while and then they left the married couple alone. Lance guided Keith to the stars room and started dancing alongside the calm ballad in the background. Keith had his head on in shoulder, letting himself be guided by Lance.

"Hey, babe" Lance guided them slowly with the music.

"Hmm?".

"I was thinking...".

"Oh no...".

"Hey!. Come on, we just got married!" He complained.

Keith laughed "That doesn't mean that I'm going to stop bickering you".

"You're such a bully" He spinned slowly "But talking seriously. When we get back to earth, will have a lot of things to do".

"Like what?" Keith was now facing his husband eyes.

Lance kissed the head of his partner "Well, for starters, will have to visit my family and introduce you. Get ready, it's going to be a very chaotic welcoming, especially now that we're married" He laughed "My mamá will be asking all the details like crazy".

The song changed to something to something a little more catchy.

"Treasure?, seriously?" Lance laughed at the song.

Keith rolled his eyes "Pidge...".

The blue boy grabbed the other one and started spinning "After we met with my family, will have to start looking for a job and a house!".

Keith followed him, still spinning with Lance "Ok, and then what?".

Lance grabbed Keith's waist and keep dancing "When we have enough money, will buy the house, a car...".

"I want a motorcycle" Keith interrumpted.

Lance snorted "Ok, a bike for you".

Keith stop dancing "But seriously, you're making sound like a super cliche movie married couple".

"I love all that cheesy stuff babe!".

"I want us to be unique" Keith pointed and gave a kiss on the lips to Lance "We should travel, after this two years on space, i think we deserve some good vacations".

Lance guided him against the wall "And where do you want to go?" He slide to the floor alongside Keith.

"Everywhere".

He smiled and took his husband hand "Then will do that first".

Keith sighed "Hey, about tomorrow... are you nervous?".

"Actually yeah, I'm scared" Lance answered "But the good guys always win, right?".

"I suppose".

"It's like... karma?".

"Maybe".

Lance noticed the worry in his husband face "Hey" He lift his chin slowly and forced Keith to face him "Everything will be fine, **we** will be fine".

Keith nodded "I know, it's just..." A tear came out of his eye "I don't want to loose you".

"Pffft!, Lotor's stupid crappy version of Voltron isn't going to be enough to take me down" Lance assured "Besides, you'll be there".

The red boy laughed "Always watching you back".

"Oh, my knight in shining armor!" He joked and gave a kiss to Keith "Stop worrying, ok?".

"Yeah, okay".

"Good" He stood up and offered Keith his hand.

Keith took it and Lance pulled him to a big embrace and a kiss on the lips. Keith returned it almost instantly, his hands on Lance waist.

"Wanna go to celebrate our honeymoon?" Lance winked.

Keith laughed and gave him another kiss on the lips "Just shut up and lead us to our room, husband".

"As you wish, husband".

 

**_But just because they can't feel it too, doesn't mean that you have to forget..._ **

 

"We've come far team, today it's the day will finally finish this war" Shiro said, his helmet in one hand "Are you ready?".

"Yes!" Everyone shouted.

"Ok, let's review the plan".

Coran nodded "First, you and Hunk will start distracting Lotor, while Pidge gets ready Lance and Keith invisible pod to infiltrate the quintessence ship" He explained "When the bombs are installed, the explosion will weaken Lotor's robot because quintessence is what powers it up. Keith and Lance will get to their lions, you'll form Voltron and you'll end up this whole war!".

Allira nodded "Coran and I will take care of the other ships".

"Good" Shiro faced the team with a worried look "Team, this is our last and most important fight of all. I don't know how everything will turn out, I just hope that we'll be successful. All I can do right now is thank you all, it's been a big honor to fight at your side... my family".

Hunk started tearing up "Ditto".

Pidge cleared her throat "Same, you've all become my new family".

Lance and Keith we're holding hands tightly "Same for us" He said.

Shiro gave a big deep breath "Allura, open the wormhole".

The princess nodded and obeyed the order.

"Let's finish this".

 

Hunk and Shiro came out of the ships with their lions, the Galra fleet was big, the biggest ship was the one that contained all the quintessence.

" _Keith, Lance, start infiltration. We'll cover you"_ Shiro commanded.

"Copy" Lance said through the comms.

Pidge was finishing preparing the pod "Give me a couple more of minutes" She said while typing in her laptop.

 _"You should really hurry!, this is getting really hard!"_ Hunk pointed.

"Just two more minutes!".

Keith was pacing nervously "We gotta hurry Pidge".

"I know, but it's really hard to configurate this ships" She said while typing quickly.

The castle took a hard hit, shaking the entire ship.

 _"Paladins!, we need you here right now, this is too much for just two lions!"_ Allura said through the comms as the castle took another hit.

"Allura, take blue and go help Shiro and Hunk!" Lance ordered.

_"Got it"._

"Agh!, this isn't working!" Pidge complained "The shots lowered the castle energy, if I don't have enough of it, i won't be able to configurate it!".

 _"Forget about the bomb!. Lotor started attacking with Dark Voltron, we need to form Voltron right now too!"_ Shiro shouted through the comms.

Keith grunted in frustration "Lance, go to the red lion and help them" He ordered.

"What!, no!. I'm not leaving you alone in this, is too dangerous!" Lance objected.

Keith grabbed his shoulders "Lance listen to me, they need you and I'm the only one of us two that can interact with their technology, I have to go there and finish this".

"Keith..." The red paladin kissed him in the lips and pressed his forehead against his "I love you, Lance".

Lance felt a knot in his throat but swallowed it "I love you too, Keith" He gave him another kiss on the lips.

"Go!" Keith commanded, Lance obeyed and runned to Red's hangar while repeating in his head that everything will be fine, this was their last fight, that he'll see Keith one more time...

"Keith!, the pod is ready!" Pidge shouted.

"Got it!. Go help them!" He instructed.

She nodded and runned away as fast as he has ever seen her do.

"Here we go" The red paladin took the capsule that contain the explosive and got to the pod.

 

"Keith!, are you in the ship yet!?" Shiro asked distressed, the battle was being harder that they all expected.

_"Yeah, I'm looking for the quintessence room"._

Voltron took a hit that send them flying a couple of meters away. 

"Ugh... you might wanna hurry up" Hunk added.

_"I'm almost there, I can feel it"._

Lance was worried sick, his husband was inside of the ship that was supposed to blow up, a miscalculation and he might blow up too, or get captured by the Galra or even... killed. No, he couldn't think like that.

"Keith, be careful please" Lance begged.

_"I will"._

 

Keith was inside the room filled with quintessence "Found it!".

 _"Install the explosive and then get to the castle, when you are away from it, explode it"_ Coran instructed through the comms.

"Yeah, got it".

The room was totally filled with tubes of quintessence, pure quintessence. 

"Ok, I gotta find the right spot for this thing" He looked across the room and he saw an enormous tube of quintessence that shined brighter that all of the others.

"Uh, guys, I think I found the quintessence that powers up Lotor's Voltron" He said and walked to it.

The tube seemed to run out very slowly, it was empowering the robot from far, like if the quintessence knew where to go.

 _"Install the explosive in there quick!"_ Allura shouted.

Keith obeyed and placed the bomb in the tube "Ok, I installed..." An alarm started blaring in the room "Shit!" The door he previously opened was closed now.

 _"Keith!?"_ Lance asked distressed.

"I-I'm okay, but the door is closed, i can't get out!" He shouted, trying to open the door even with his sword.

 _"Damnit!"_ Shiro cursed _"We have to abort the mission!, Coran go get Keith, will do our best out here against this thing"._

"No!, it's too dangerous and only Galra can walk in here without being detected that easily" Keith pointed "I-I'll try to find another way out".

 _"Be careful"_ Pidge added.

 "I will".

 

Lance couldn't get rid of the bad feeling he had about this mission, something wasn't going to come out fine he simply knew it. 

"Everyone, give all you got!" Shiro shouted.

The blue paladin obeyed and fought with everything he could. The dark Voltron was bigger than their Voltron, it grabbed it like a little toy and started spinning it.

 **"THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NOTHING YOU CAN DO AGAINST MY VOLTRON, PALADINS"** Lotor had intervened their communications, it was on their comms now **"I HOPE YOU LIKE THE FEELING OF ME DRAINING YOUR LIFE SLOWLY".**

A purple light started to illuminate Voltron, it was draining the quintessence out of the lions and the paladins.

"W-what do we do!?" Lance asked, feeling already weaker.

"Coran!, can you help us with the castle!?" Hunk asked.

_"I can't get closer!, the castle won't make it!"._

"We-we need to find a way out of his grasp" Shiro commanded , trying to move Voltron without success.

"Agh!, I can't move anything!" Pidge exclaimed "Voltron it's loosing its power".

"If we don't get out of here, not only Voltron will loose its entire energy source, but us will loose our life force too!" Allura pointed.

 _"I'm going to blow up this thing!"_ Keith shouted through the comms.

"WHAT!?, no, are you crazy!" Lance shouted too "You're going to blow up too!".

 _"It's that or you all die!, we can't let that happen!"_ Keith sighed _"I have to do this"._

"No. we can find another solution!" Shiro added.

"Keith, don't do it..." Pidge said, sadness in her voice.

_"There's no other choice"._

"Keith, you can't..." Dark Voltron started to absorb the quintessence even faster and everyone shouted at the sudden change, it was absorbing their life force.

"K-Keith you-you can't" Lance said out of breath "P-please I can't..." A tear came out of his eye "I can't live without... you" The world was spinning around him, black dots filling his view.

 _"I...ove... Lance"_ He heard Keith's voice but couldn't understand what it said.

A bright light filled his eyes, he wasn't processing anything anymore until he heard the explosion. His eyes opened in shock, for a moment he managed to get rid of the weak sensation.

**"KEITH!".**

After that... total darkness.

 

**_Let your memories grow stronger and stronger..._ **

 

His eyes fluttered open, he was in his bed with a very annoying headache "Ugh..." He sat on the bed and looked around, the room was dark. Lance got up from the bed and decided to look for someone, he opened the door and found Shiro leaning against the wall beside his room.

"Shiro?".

Shiro's mind seemed to be somewhere else, his eyes looked tired and sad "Hey, you're awake" He said with a fake smile.

"What happened?".

Shiro sighed "Lotor absorbed our quintessence, we managed to defeat him, but we passed out in the process. I woke up first and got us back to the castle, everyone waked up two days ago, you took longer..." He massaged his temples "Lance, there's something you need to know".

A sudden realization hit Lance like a bullet "Where's Keith?" He looked inside the room, no trace of the red paladin anywhere.

"Lance...".

"T-the explosion, h-he must be in a healing pod..." He started running away from Shiro in direction to the med bay.

"Lance!" Shiro followed him.

Lance kept running with all the speed he got. He opened the med bay door, Coran was on there and looked surprise at the sight of the blue paladin.

"Lance, wait!" He shouted.

Lance ignored him and looked inside all the pods "Where's Keith!?" He shouted "Coran, where's Keith!?".

"My boy, Keith is...".

"He is dead, Lance" Pidge finished for him, she was behind one of the pods, her eyes red from crying.

"W-what are you..." Lance didn't felt his legs and fell to the ground on his knees "No... you're-you're lying".

"Lance..." Shiro placed his hand on his shoulder "Keith sacrificed for us" Tears started falling from his eyes "I'm so sorry!" He fell on the ground and hugged Lance with a strong embrace.

Lance wasn't processing anything, everything was confusing "But where..." Tears finally started falling from his eyes, not being able to react from the shock "Where is...".

Coran typed on the computer and a pod appeared "We managed to..." He swallowed trying to hide his tears "To find the body".

Pidge wasn't looking the pod, she was crying in the corner covering her face.

Lance couldn't believe it, he walked in front of the pod and saw it, he saw Keith drifting inside of it, a peaceful expression and his hair floating slightly against his pale face. In that moment, Lance broke, he fell to the ground once again, openly sobbing now, hitting with his fist the pod "No!, no!, he's not-he's not dead!" He shouted alongside a heartbreaking sob. 

Pidge got beside him and hugged him strongly "I'm sorry, Lance, I'm so, so sorry" She said while crying.

Shiro and Coran also got to the floor, all of them hugging Lance and crying their eyes out.

Allura and Hunk came a couple of minutes later and without a question, they joined the group hug too. Lance observed the body in front of him, how beautiful he looked even inside of the healing pods, even if all his brightness was gone. 

 

_**'Til they're before your eyes...** _

 

"Lance" Hunk called knocking his room door.

Lance was sitting in the edge of the bed, holding in one hand Keith's knife and the ring he gave Keith on the other. Keith's few belongings we're still on their room, everything felt wrong, empty, lonely...

"Everything's ready, take your time" He said.

Lance didn't answer, the last two days he didn't even came out of his room, he barely eat or talked. His eyes were swallowen and red from all the crying, his pillow was still wet from the crying of last night, he couldn't even sleep. The feeling of loneliness filled his heart and soul to the core, he needed Keith, he wanted him to be here to tell him that everything was going to be fine. He had so many things he wanted to tell and show to Keith, he just wanted 1 more second with him, just a second for telling him everything.

"I'm coming in buddy" Hunk announced and the door opened.

Lance didn't looked at his friend, he was embarrassed, he didn't want anybody to see him in such a low state. Hunk sat beside him at hugged him tightly "It's okay to cry" Was the only thing he said. Lance didn't needed to be told twice and started crying again, getting wet his friend clothes in the process.

"I can't Hunk... I-i need him" He sobbed, that word being te first ones in two days.

"I know, I know" Hunk brushed Lance hair softly.

 

After almost an hour, they got to the stars room. Keith was in some type of coffin, dressed in a black suit, looking extremely peaceful, not even looking like if he went through an explosion. According to Coran, when they retrieved the body they tried to revive him, but the healing pod couldn't because there was not cerebral activity, the pod managed to heal the physical damage, but he was long gone.

"Is everyone ready?" Allura asked tiredly.

Everyone nodded except Lance, who was lost looking at Keith's resting figure.

"I'll start then" She announced and magic started flowing out of her hand "I'll transform him into pure quintessence, the castle will absorb it and..." She explained but stopped when Shiro shook his head, the explanation was mostly for Lance but he wasn't paying attention.

The blue magic surrounded Keith's body slowly until it covered it completely. Allura made a soft movement with her hand and the boy started to slowly transform into a reddish quintessence, the castle absorbing it as it flowed.

Shiro was hugging Pidge, he seemed heartbroken, Keith was like a brother to him and now here they were, looking at their friend slowly turn into space dust.

Lance simply observed the quintessence flow, he didn't had any tears to cry anymore. He could only think: 'Keith wouldn't like this', 'Keith wouldn't like him to be trapped inside of a castle for enternity, he was a free spirit, he needed to be free'. A tear did came out of his eye.

Hunk was crying beside him, not even trying to hide it.

When the last speck was absorbed, Allura wiped her tears and nodded "It's done".

Pidge didn't said anything and got out of the place, wiping her tears as she walked.

Shiro walked to Lance and without a word he just hugged him "You should go to rest" he suggested.

Lance nodded and left, walking slowly to his room, the only place that still had a bit of Keith's presence.

 

_ Three days later _

 

"Lance, it's me, Pidge" She said while knocking the door "Please come out, I need you to see something".

Lance was curled up on the bed, holding Keith's jacket like if it was going to slip off his hands just like Keith did, he was afraid of loosing it. 

"Lance, please" She begged "I really need you to see this".

The blue boy looked at the ring on his hands, on the right one, his ring and on the left one, Keith's ring. He sighed and wiped a few tear off his cheek, walking slowly towards the door.

"Yeah?" He asked in a very low voice when the door opened.

Pidge grabbed his hand "Come with me" She pulled him.

He hadn't the strength to fight it, so he just let himself being pulled by the smaller girl.

 

The arrived in front of a couple of big doors. Pidge gave a big breath a pushed her glasses up her nose "Coran and I managed to build a Keith AI with the memories that the castle absorbed, just like Allura's father one".

Lance eyes widen in surprise "W-what?" He asked.

"I tried to tell you sooner, but you just wouldn't come out of your room" She sniffed "Everyone already talked to him, you're the last one".

"Pidge...".

"Just do it, Lance. You need it" She said and gave him a pat on the shoulder "Shiro is inside, wait for him to finish".

"I don't...".

"Lance" She interrumpted him "We all miss him, but you need this more than anybody. You need to _let him go"._

The last frase hit Lance like a bullet, Pidge was right, he needed to let him go.

"Thank you" He said and gave Pidge a hug. She returned it with a kiss on the forehead. 

"Good luck".

Lance was left there alone, waiting for Shiro to come out. He managed to listen a bit of what was Shiro saying.

"I'll always miss you my little brother..." He was crying, it was obvious by the tone on his voice.

The doors opened and Shiro was surprised by seeing Lance standing there.

"Lance!".

Lance managed to fake a smile "Hey...".

Shiro patted his shoulder "You okay?".

This time, Lance embrace him.

"I'm sorry Shiro".

Shiro hugged him back and whispered to his ear "Do what you think it's right".

Lance knew what he meant, so he just nodded and let Shiro go.

"Take your time" With that, Shiro left, leaving him totally alone.

 

**You'll come back...**

 

Lance opened the big doors, the place didn't have light except from the AI. He saw the back of Keith, his perfect raven hair and his typical red jacket. Tears were menacing to come out of his eyes. 'No, not now. I can't cry right now' Lance said to himself, but when Keith turned around and smiled at him, he broke, the tears started rolling down his cheeks, he walked even more slowly than before, not being sure how to approach.

"Lance..." Keith said extending one hand "You shouldn't be afraid, you loose all you coolness when you are".

Lance walked faster "I'm not afraid... I'm just... shocked" He stand in front of Keith, just a few centimeters away. He looked exactly the same: black hair, pale skin, beautiful violet eyes and now he had this blue light surrounding him, after all, this wasn't more than just a materialized form of Keith's memories. Lance took his hand, it didn't felt like Keith's, it didn't have that usual warmth.

Keith looked down at his hand "Is that the ring I gave you?" He asked looking at the piece of jewelry.

Lance nodded "Yes, yes it is".

The red boy smiled and showed his hand to Lance "I have my ring too".

Tears started falling again from Lance eyes, he shook his head and squished the hand he was holding "That's... very cute". Keith brushed his hair out of his forehead and gave it a soft kiss.

"Don't cry".

"It's easier to say that to do it, babe".

Keith's AI lead him to the floor, the both sat down, him still holding his hand and brushing his hair. They stayed in total silence, Lance crying silently against his husband materialized form. 

**_When they call you..._ **

 

"Keith...".

"Yeah?".

"Ho-how am I going to get over you?" He asked with another sob "H-how I'm I going to let you go?".

"You don't" He answered "I know I'm not real, I'm just an illusion based on memories. But... have you ever wandered where is the real Keith?".

"He's in the castle, trapped for eternity".

Keith shook his head "No, he is in here" He pointed his head "In _your_ memories".

Lance eyes open in surprise "Huh?".

"The only memories that actually matter are here and here" He pointed his head and heart "You don't have to get over me, or let me go completely for you to move on" He brushed his cheek with his fingers and gave him that soft, comforting smile "You just have to get rid of the bad memories".

Lance knew he was right, he knew it but still couldn't accept it "I hate when you are right, but... it's hard to accept".

 

**_No need to say goodbye..._ **

 

"What about our plans, i can't think of a future without you... w-we we're supposed to travel and do so many things together" His sobbing was only getting worse with every thing he remembered.

"You don't need me there to fufill that plans" Keith was still brushing his hair.

Lance shook his head and stood up slowly "You don't understand... I can't think of just myself, I simply can't. There's nothing left to me in this world that doesn't involve you".

"Lance..." Keith stood in front of him, looking through his eyes like if he was real "I want you to do that things, for me... _for you"._

"Keith...".

"I want you to go back to earth; visit tour family, give them the biggest hug and tell them everything that happened, I want you to proudly go there and tell them that you saved the universe, I want you to tell them you got married and give the story with details, saying with a smile on your face _'Keith would have loved this'"._ He wiped away a tear that was coming out of Lance eye.

"Then I want you to travel, go all around the globe, take pictures of every moment, eat every single traditional dish of the place, climb up a mountain and shout to the world that you're free. Find the job of your dreams, buy a house, a car and everything you want" Keith said "And then... at the end of every day I want you to smile to yourself and remember the good times. I want you to be... happy".

"I-i will" Lance said.

"Promise me that you'll be happy for both of us, promise me that even in the darkest moments, you'll try to pull off a smile and remember the good moments".

"I promise" He said in the strongest voice he could manage, this was a life promise he was never going to break.

"Good..." Keith hugged Lance, that was the first time in days that he realized how much he needed this hug, how much he needed this moment.

"We made a promise before, remember?" Keith asked while hugging him.

"We made lots of promises".

"Yeah, but this one... this one was special".

"Ok, what is it?".

"I promised to love you and protect you... even in the afterlife".

Lance sniffed "Let's that be our last promise, okay?".

Keith nodded "Always".

"Keith... I have one more question?".

"Yeah?".

"Would you like to be free?" He asked.

"...Yes".

Lance smiled to himself "I imagine it".

 

**You'll come back...**

 

"This is the goodbye, isn't it?" Lance asked, trying hard not to cry.

"Just for now" Keith assured and got closer to Lance.

Lance didn't doubt it for a second, even though this wasn't the bone and flesh Keith he loved with all his soul, he still do it. He pressed his lips against his husband ones, tears were rolling down and falling to the ground. Keith returned the kiss.

They had to separate, Lance made sure that kiss will stay forever in his memory, he pressed his forehead against Keith's and whispered "I love you, Keith McClain Kogane".

"I love you, Lance Kogane McClain".

Lance laughed with tears still coming out of his eyes "You ready?".

"Only if you are".

He nodded and released Keith's hand, giving one last kiss to the forehead. 

**_When they call you..._ **

 

He got a few steps back to the panel control, there was a red button to destroy the AI that Coran installed after the Alfor incident. 

Keith observed Lance once again with his soft smile. Lance made sure to memorize that face, his beautiful violet eyes, his rosy lips and his soft hair that fit his face shape perfectly. This was it, this was the goodbye. Someone might think this hurts as hell, but it didn't, Keith deserved to be free and Lance needed to be free of this painful small memories in his head. 

Lance smiled back at Keith and waved with his hand "Even in the afterlife" He said.

"Even in the afterlife" Keith repeated and waved too "I'll be waiting".

Lance nodded "I know you will" He pressed the destruction button.

Keith's AI started to turn into dust, like little red crystals floating in the air. Lance saw him go and smiled, _he was free._

 

All his life, Lance tried to find that star on the dark horizon, that something that gave him a motivation to keep living everyday with a smile on his face and now... he found it. Keith was his star on the dark horizon, and even thought he was alone now, he knew that at the end of that path he'll met his star once again... but for now, he was going to keep the two promised he made to Keith:

1\. Keep living for both of them, always with a smiled on his face.

2\. Love him and protect him, even in the afterlife.

This was it, the start of the light he had to follow for reaching the star.

Keith was right, there was absolutely...

 

**_No need to say goodbye._ **

 

_Keith, my sworn rival, my friend, my crush, my lover, my husband, my agony... my star._

_—_

_—_

_—_

_—_

_—_

_I love you._


End file.
